Children normally wear absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants, and the like up until the time they learn to use the toilet by themselves. Adults may wear or use absorbent articles as well for incontinence, feminine care, or other applications. Additionally, caregivers may use absorbent articles such as bed pads while their children are taking part in toilet training or while caring for a sick or elderly person. Absorbent articles conventionally include a liquid permeable body-side liner, a liquid impermeable outer cover, and an absorbent core. The absorbent core is typically located in between the outer cover and the liner for taking in and retaining waste exuded by the wearer. The absorbent core can be made of, for instance, superabsorbent particles.
As to one application of the use of an absorbent article, in order to learn to use the toilet independently, a child must first learn to recognize when a bodily waste leaves his or her body so they can learn to use the toilet instead of relying on an absorbent article to contain waste such as a liquid insult. Because an insult of body waste may often occur during an activity that distracts the child to the extent that the child does not notice the insult, this recognition can represent a substantial hurdle in the training process. Also, a child's ability to recognize when an insult occurs may be hampered by the improved performance of disposable absorbent undergarments which can, for example, quickly draw and retain urine away from the wearer's skin after an insult occurs.
Close monitoring of a child by a caregiver can enhance and improve the toilet training learning process. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide the caregiver with immediate notification and/or verification that a liquid insult, which may include urine or runny bowel movement, has occurred so that the parent or caregiver can reinforce expectations around potty training with the child while the insult event is still recent to help the child learn to stay dry. Several attempts have been made at improving toilet training aids for toilet training pants. For example, training pants that include a temperature change member and/or a dimensional change member which provide a temperature or pressure change sensation to alert the child wearing the pants that urination has occurred have been disclosed. Additional training aids have been used to alert the caregiver and/or child that urination has occurred. Such training aids include disappearing graphics disposed on the outer cover of the pants, audible alarms, vibration sensors, and light indicators that may provide visual or other sensory indication of urination.
Existing training pants having one or more training aids that alert only the wearer, or only the caregiver, to an insult of the pants promote prolonged debates between the child and the caregiver as to whether an accident has occurred. Additionally, it may take some time before detection of an insult occurs, and this delay can result in a missed opportunity to actively toilet train the child. One of the first obstacles to overcome in having a successful toilet training experience is helping the child recognize when waste leaves his or her body and ending the deniability of the occurrence of an accident by the child. There is a need, therefore, to provide a suitable absorbent article that enhances the toilet training experience for both the child and the caregiver.
Accordingly, various types of moisture, wetness or bowel movement indicators have been suggested for use in absorbent articles in order to detect the presence urine or bowel movement within an absorbent article in order to assist in toilet training. These indicators may include alarm or signaling devices that are designed to assist parents or attendants identify a wet or soiled diaper condition early on. The signaling devices produce either a visual or an audible signal.
In some embodiments, a wetness indicator has been added to an absorbent article to detect urine insults, and in other embodiments, a sensor for odor detection has been added to detect bowel movement insults. In these embodiments, conductive materials are incorporated into the absorbent article where the insult must come into close contact with the conductive materials in order for the indicator to detect an insult. For example, the conductive materials serve as conductive leads for a signaling device and form an open circuit in the article that can be closed when a body fluid, such as urine, closes the circuit. Problems, however, have been encountered in designing an absorbent article with conductive materials where the insult comes into sufficient contact with the conductive materials to close the open circuit in order to promptly alert the wearer or caregiver that an insult has occurred. Therefore, a need exists for a method for rapidly detecting the occurrence of liquid insults within an absorbent article without the use of conductive leads to provide for a more effective interactive potty training experience.
Moreover, the indicators that have been used to show that an insult has occurred within an absorbent article have been mostly visual graphics on the absorbent article itself, which can be difficult for a parent/caregiver to see without undressing the child or wearer, and which can also be difficult for the child or wearer/user to notice. Therefore, a need exists for an improved absorbent article and method of alerting a caregiver and/or wearer/user of an absorbent article that an insult has occurred to allow for closer monitoring of insults and the ability to react to and/or reinforce behavior accordingly. Additionally, a need exists for a system that can continuously monitor dry time within an absorbent article and that provides such information to a parent, caregiver, and/or wearer, allowing the parent or caregiver to reward a child/wearer for having an insult-free absorbent article.